This invention relates generally to pot holding means and more particularly to such means for holding coffee pots and the like against sliding or tipping movement on gas range burner grates in moving recreational vehicles and boat galleys.
The making of coffee, cooking of foods, etc., on boats and ships poses special problems because of the many movements to which such vessels are subjected, particularly in the open sea. One such problem results from the tendency of pots on galley ranges to move off of burner grates under the influence of these movements. Also, galleys, and particularly those on smaller boats, are generally so small that there is barely room for the cook to move about, and this creates a risk of accidental tipover of cooking vessels on range burners. Similar problems and difficulties exist in recreational vehicles equipped with gas ranges for cooking, particularly when the ranges are in use while the vehicles are in motion. Even when such a vehicle is parked or standing still, there is some danger that a pot of coffee, boiling water, or the like, on a range burner therein will be accidentally knocked over, particularly where children are present, because of crowded conditions in its kitchen area.
Heretofore various contrivances for keeping pots in position on burner grates in galleys and recreational vehicles have been provided. All such devices of which we are aware, however, have had shortcomings of one kind or another. One commercially available device of this type is simply a tubular member that snaps onto a stove grate to receive a pot and keep it in position over the grate. The tubular member, however, has a fixed diameter, and is therefore unsuitable for use with pots having larger diameters than that. Furthermore, unless the pot diameter is such that there is a reasonably snug interfit between the pot and holder, the pot can slide around within the holder--an obvious disadvantage. Finally, the device must be snapped into position on a grate for use, which does not contribute to its ease and facility of handling, particularly after it has been heated up by a stove burner.
Another prior art means for the prevention of movement of a vessel on a range burner is embodied in a tea kettle having three equidistant fins on its bottom. These fins fit down into the grillwork of the grate to keep the kettle from sliding off of the burner. The fins do not, however, prevent the kettle from tipping. Moreover, while the fins might prevent the kettle from sliding completely off of a burner grate, they do not always fit into the grate snugly enough to prevent at least some sliding movement thereon. This expedient leaves much to be desired in the way of versatility, being limited in use to a single vessel and to burner grates of suitable design to accept the fins on that vessel.
Another previously proposed means for holding pots in position over range burners includes one or more rails designed for mounting on the sides of ranges and cooperating pairs of clamping members adapted to extend inwardly over burner areas from the rails, the clamping members being slidably mountable on the rails so as to be movable therealong. Each pair of clamping members can be positioned to embrace a pot over a burner and hold it tightly against movement. Disadvantages of this type of pot holder reside in the fact that it is more or less a permanent installation on a range to clutter an already cramped working space still more, and the further fact that the clamping members must be moved each time a pot is placed on a burner or removed therefrom so long as they are in service. This need for constant manipulation of the clamping members makes their use burdensome and tedious, and sometimes uncomfortable, or even painful, when the clamping members become hot from exposure to burner environments.
Still another type of pot holding means heretofore known comprises a plurality of pairs of cooperating parts, each pair including a first part that snaps into position on a burner grate and a second part that thereafter interfits with the first part, the second part being bent sharply upwardly at one end to provide a barrier for retaining a pot or pan against radial movement from its position over the burner. A plurality of these pairs of interfitting parts, typically four pairs, are affixed to the burner grate so that their upstanding ends bound a space above the burner within which a cooking vessel can snugly fit. In order to use this type of pot or pan restraining means, it is, of course, necessary to install a plurality of parts on at least one burner grate to provide a confined area for a vessel of specific diameter, after which the grate is limited to occupancy by such a vessel until the installed parts are removed, an even more tedious task than adjustment of the clamping members attached to the above-described rails.
One other type of pot holding means of which we are aware includes a holding bracket for an adjustable clamp, which bracket is permanently attachable to a wall or countertop adjacent a range burner to permit use of the clamp over that particular burner. The obvious disadvantage of this device is its limitation to a specific location for use, plus the fact that it is a permanent installation to occupy space in the limited area available for cooking in the cramped quarters of the average boat or recreational vehicle. Another disadvantage is the necessity of adjusting the clamp to a pot gripping position every time it has to be used, and to a pot release position when the pot is to be removed from the burner.
The above-described pot holding means pretty much typify those types of equipment commercially available for preventing accidents due to pot movement in the crowded cooking areas of boats and recreational vehicles, particularly during periods when such vehicles are in motion. While these prior art pot holding means serve their collective purpose after a fashion, each is subject to one or more of the following disadvantages: limitation to use on either a specific vessel or a vessel of specific size, inability to prevent all types of pot movement, being a more or less permanent installation taking up needed space in a cramped cooking area, requiring bothersome adjustment to a vessel for use and for removal after such use, requiring the installation of multiple parts for use on a burner and limitation to use at a particular burner location. All of the foregoing disadvantages would be eliminated by the provision of a pot holding means that could be quickly and easily attached to a burner grate for use and then as quickly and easily clamped around any of a variety of pots of different sizes to thereafter prevent movement of the pot, from which the pot could later be quickly and effortlessly removed, and in which the pot holding means could be quickly and effortlessly removed from the grate after it had served its purpose. No such pot holding means has heretofore, however, been proposed to our knowledge.